POP/ROCK
Fantasia, "Back to Me" (J)
Regardless of the compassion you might or might not feel for Fantasia, her "Back to Me" is good enough to generate big hits, but, frankly, not good enough to deserve it. She has had a healthy career in show biz, albeit bad luck in her personal life, since winning "American Idol" in 2004. Her new CD is radio-friendly, but the singer doesn't seem particularly invested.
To its credit, the album has selling points beyond the requisite stops on the assembly line of pre-fab pop. Most tracks have inventive intros, from the loungey piano that opens the single "Bittersweet" to the muted psychedelia that launches "Trust Him," to the initial synthetic riffs on "Man of the House." Also, the ornate backing vocals are consistently fabulous, threatening to upstage the charismatic singer. Yet the raspy-voiced Fantasia holds sway, and though most of these tracks are club cuts and ballads (suitable for everything from pop radio to drag shows), there are a few riskier, nontraditional songs, including the primal-beat-driven "Move on Me," a finger-snapping "Collard Greens & Cornbread" that's more cute than shticky and the rumbling, post-modern girl-group take on infatuation, "Trust Him."
CHUCK CAMPBELL, Scripps Howard News Service
Jane Krakowski, "The Laziest Gal in Town" (DRG)
Though known for slutty, ditzy roles on "Ally McBeal" and "30 Rock," Krakowski has long had a Broadway career as a richly voiced singer of theatrical song. Girl's got chops: dynamic reach, intimate phrasing, clever characterization. She brings those skills to her solo debut, doing cabaret, jazz and standards. Krakowski has flirty fun with every tune. She's meanly teasing on "A Little Brains, a Little Talent" from "Damn Yankees." She turns Pal Joey's "Zip" (now "Tweet") into a cutting commentary on Twitter. She makes "Rubber Duckie" from "Sesame Street" merrily ribald and does a catty homage to Ann-Margret on the mod, swinging "Thirteen Men."A.D. AMOROSI, Philadelphia Inquirer
